With the July 14 release of Go Set a Watchman less than a month away and Harper planning a two million-copy printing, bookstores from the U.K. to Harper Lee's hometown of Monroeville, Ala., are preparing midnight launch parties, film screenings, special editions and much more to celebrate this literary event.
Magers & Quinn Booksellers, Minneapolis, Minn., will host a marathon reading of To Kill a Mockingbird in its entirety on July 11, beginning at 10 a.m. and expected to last into the evening. Attendees can pre-order Watchman to get $10 off any future $30 purchase until August 31 (100 pre-order copies available).
Northshire Bookstore, the Saratoga Film Forum and Hattie's Restaurant of Saratoga Springs, N.Y., are teaming up for a launch night double feature screening of the 1962 Mockingbird movie and the documentary Harper Lee: Hey, Boo, followed by a buffet dinner and copies of Watchman distributed at 12:01 a.m. on July 14. Tickets are $55 for one person and one copy of the book or $80 for two people and one book. The first 40 buyers get a commemorative Watchman pin.
Books-A-Million celebrates Alabama native Harper Lee at the Alabama Theatre in Birmingham, Ala., this Sunday, June 21, with a showing of Mockingbird from 2-4 p.m., followed by a street party outside the theater with food from Yogurt Mountain, Cantina and Mr. Henry's Chicken De-Lux, and music by local band the Steel City Jug Slammers. Books-A-Million will be selling copies of Mockingbird and taking orders for Watchman.
Last night, Barnes & Noble stores nationwide hosted discussions/celebrations of the Mockingbird novel and film. On July 13, B&N will usher in Watchman with a Mockingbird Read-a-Thon from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. (those interested in being readers should contact their local stores).
In the U.K., Waterstones locations in Glasgow, Manchester Deansgate, Leeds, Liverpool and Nottingham will host midnight openings, according to the Bookseller. The flagship store in Picadilly is planning panel discussions, screenings of the To Kill a Mockingbird film, and a fan art exhibition. Readers are invited to all Waterstones locations on July 1 to celebrate Mockingbird, and to return on July 29 after reading Watchman.
The Galaxy Bookshop, Hardwick, Vt., will read the first chapter of Watchman on July 14 at 9 a.m., with "Southern treats" available for attendees.
Square Books, Oxford, Miss., presents a public viewing of the Mockingbird film in the Oxford-Lafayette Public Library on July 13 at 5:30 p.m.
Lemuria Books, Jackson, Miss., promises "cheap beer and a few goodies to give away" at its reading of Watchman's first chapter on July 14 at 5:30 p.m.
Alabama Booksmith, Homewood, Ala., is selling a Tribute Edition of Watchman, featuring a leather slipcase containing a Watchman jacket designed by the artist Nall and a giclée print of Nall's jacket, plus a signed and leather-bound tribute to Harper Lee by writer Rick Bragg. Each purchase of this $250 edition includes four entries in a raffle for a 50th anniversary edition of Mockingbird with a bookplate signed by Harper Lee, of which just 714 copies exist.
Ol' Curiosities & Book Shoppe, in Monroeville, Ala., home of Harper Lee, is taking orders for souvenir "certified and embossed" copies of Watchman, including certificates of authenticity. According to the Trussville Tribune, Ol' Curiosities has already sold 5,000 copies in a town of 6,000 residents.
The Penguin Bookshop, Sewickley, Pa., is donating a portion of proceeds from all sales of Mockingbird to the Sewickley Public Library until July 12. The store will open from 11:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., July 13-14, for the midnight release of Watchman, followed by an all-day celebration of Harper Lee on the 14th, with a showing of the Mockingbird film at 6 p.m. in the Sewickley Public Library. On August 20, the library will host a potluck dinner and book discussion from 6-7:30 p.m.
PBS is airing an updated version of Mary McDonagh Murphy's 2012 documentary Harper Lee: Hey, Boo, as Harper Lee: American Masters. Murphy, author of Scout, Atticus & Boo: A Celebration of To Kill a Mockingbird, read an advance copy of Watchman and will live tweet during the broadcast, July 10 at 9 p.m. THIRTEEN, PBS's flagship New York station, will celebrate the release of Watchman with THIRTEEN Days of Harper Lee, a 13-day multimedia program running July 5 to July 17, including an online book club with the New York Public Library July 6-13, classroom tools for teaching To Kill a Mockingbird, a q&a with Murphy and a screening of Harper Lee: American Masters at Tisch WNET Studios at Lincoln Center, and a MetroFocus interview with Murphy on THIRTEEN July 9 at 10:30 p.m.
